


Empathy

by Nix_Paks



Category: SDV - Fandom, Stardew - Fandom, Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29002647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nix_Paks/pseuds/Nix_Paks
Summary: Shane meets the new farmer and finds out they have a bit more in common than he thought.
Relationships: Shane & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Shane & Player (Stardew Valley), Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Character(s), Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Female Character(s), Shane (Stardew Valley)/Reader, Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Empathy

It all started the day she moved into that empty cabin on the far side of town. No one really knew anything about her, and for some that was appealing. A stranger blows in from the city to sleepy little Pelican Town, and for what reason? Who's to say - few could even see the opportunity in moving to a place like this. Lewis says she wants to be a farmer so that makes enough sense, it's about the only good occupation you could have out here. There were only a few people who could care less that some girl from the city moved in, and one of them was the down on his luck retail worker for the local marketing tycoon, Shane. He was already a bit of a loner, but having someone new move into town and hearing everyone go gaga for her was tiring. She was just another person to ignore him like the rest of town, it felt a little wrong to just assume she was going to be as dismissive as the rest but so far he hasn't been given much of a reason to believe otherwise. She walks into town, talks to a few people, and then scurries off back to her farm. Which was probably for the best, he didn't want her talking to him anyways. 

It's not like anyone would want to talk to him, he didn't exactly have the most welcoming personality or appearance. There was also the fact that he was one of the two town drunks, who were known for being extremely callous to people they just met. When she finally did speak to him, he blew her off and very rudely told her.  
"I don't even know you, why are you talking to me?"  
The woman tried to tell him that she was new in town, but before she could get the words out he'd left. After that she didn't speak to him for weeks, which he was thankful for.

The next time she finally spoke to him was at the Saloon after he got off work. It came as a shock to him, he was still rude to her, but for some reason she didn't seem to mind. She just smiled and ordered him a drink, a personal pizza then told him to have a good night. With that out of the way she'd quietly get up, and walk back to the arcade to hang out with the group that always came by there every friday. 

After that the farmer had made it a point to come by the next day to buy him another pizza and a drink, until it just started becoming a part of her daily routine. She would come in at 6:30 sharp, ask Shane how his day went, then buy him dinner and a drink. On Fridays, after she talked with him the farmer would hang out with Sam, Sebastian, and Abigail. He really only knew Sam since they both worked at Joja, the other two were just other faces in the town to him. But she talked about them so much he ended up learning almost everything about him, and the others. Even more surprising was that he actually paid attention to her enough to learn these things.

At some point Shane had actually started looking forward to seeing her in the evening, seeing her cheerful face was getting him through the rest of the day. Especially if work was rough, it was nice seeing such a friend after eight hours of misery. Which only made it sting when she didn't show up one friday night, did his apathy actually scare her off? No, no she just didn't show up. Even her friends were worried, he could hear them through the chatter of the bustling saloon, asking each other if anyone had seen her. Well if that was going to be the case then he didn't want to stay. Shane downs the last of his drink and walks back to the ranch. The night was still young for him, so he grabs a six pack from his mini fridge and continues his drinking on the dock that hangs over the lake by his aunt's. If he was going to be alone at least he could be here, under the stars, with the cool spring air that kept him awake. 

Shane was lost in his thoughts as he stared over the inky lake, he had blocked out most of the world besides the cold can in his hand and the sounds of the water shifting with the wind. He almost didn't realize someone was approaching, and by the time he did they were almost at his side. 

"Hey" a woman's voice peeps from behind him.

"Oh!" He jumps a little, looking over his shoulder to see the farmer trotting up beside him. "Hey, up late too huh?" He asked solemnly. He caught a glance at her expression and saw she looked a little down, it made him a little concerned but he didn't say anything. 

The woman would nod slowly "Yeah" 

"You want something to drink?" He asked, holding out a can dripping with condensation. 

"Sure" She takes the cold can, opens it, and just holds it for a moment as they quietly stare over the lake. 

Neither of them talked for a while, until the farmer cleared her throat and asked,"So uh, how was your day?" 

"Buh...miserable, and you?" 

"Heh, it was….just a day" It seemed she really didn't know how else to put it, yet Shane could still relate he often has 'just days'. He chuckles weakly and takes a drink. 

"Yeah I know how that is." He sighs. 

The farmer bows her head and breathes out a shaky sigh of her own, before raising back up, and downing the can rather quickly. The man beside chuckles under his breath. "Wow, you really put that away. Must be a woman after my heart." Shane finishes the last of his beer, and tosses the empty can on the dock behind him. "Well, I'm turning in for the night." He stretches. "You can finish those off if you like, it won't bother me." 

The woman would shake her head. "Nah I should head home too, it was nice seeing you though I like talking to you." 

Hearing her say that made Shane stop midstep, just hearing her say that made him feel….different. A faint smile tugs at the corners of his lips, but no way was he letting her see it.  
"Mhm" he'd hum under his breath before continuing to walk off. 

The farmer waits until he's disappeared into the house, before walking home herself.

The next morning Shane woke up feeling swimmy headed, he sits up in bed and rests his forehead in the palm of his hand. He couldn't stop thinking about what she had said to him, about how she liked talking to him. As if you could even call what they do talking, it's just her talking at him while he halfway listens. But perhaps that could change a little, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to open up to someone, even if every fiber in his being was currently telling him that was stupid to do. There was just the tiniest part of him that wanted to have someone there he could talk to besides his aunt. 

So over the course of the next few months Shane and the farmer had grown closer, she had unfortunately gotten to see an ugly side of him at his aunt’s ranch one morning after a heavy night of drinking. He admitted to hoping he doesn’t live long enough to need a plan for his life, that sent his goddaughter running from the room crying. When Jas ran out sobbing he was almost certain all of them would be too mad, too hurt to speak to him again. But no, they were all still there everyday just pushing for him to be better. He never knew why they had so much faith in him though, he was such a failure and anytime he tried something new things went wrong. 

The farmer had started coming by and talking to him more and more everyday, and was always asking if he wanted to come and help her on her farm, or if he wanted someone to drink with. Why was she wasting her time with him, hasn't he made things hard enough for her? He couldn't be rude to her for long though, the guilt was starting to eat at him. All she wanted was to be his friend, could it really be so bad to open up? So far it didn't seem that bad, and as a show of good faith Shane decided one night he was going to buy her a few drinks. Then the two of them ended up getting carried away. 

The farmer ended up having a few too many, and now she faces the issue of walking home at night. Shane had alot of experience walking home in the dark, so like a gentleman he offered to walk her back. Especially since it was him who bought her the drinks in the first place. 

“That's so sweet of you!” She’d slur, throwing her arm over his shoulder and leaning heavily on him as they stumble out the saloon door. The cool summer air welcomed them into the darkness, and made the trek back home not nearly as bad as it would had the sun still been up. Though there was still a bit of humidity in the air, it wasn’t enough to be bothersome.

“You know” The farmer starts to say, “I always knew you had a sweet side, and I tell EVERYONE you weren't so bad. They say naH he’s so mean an- and I tell em they don’t give you the chance to get to know you.” She lays her head on his shoulder, and squeezes him tight.  
Shane huffs hard, having her paw all over him was weird and uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that he was pretty much dragging her back home. She kept falling on and off of him, at some point he just wraps and arm around her to keep her waist to keep her from stumbling into the bushes. 

“Hey!” She says a little too loudly in his ear. 

He cringes and waits for it to stop ringing before saying “Ah- yeah?”

“Did I ever tell you why I moved here?” 

He nods quickly “Yeah, you told me you hated working at your old job and wanted a change in scenery.” 

The woman nods and then also shakes her head, giving him very confusing signals.  
“Well that's not the ONLY reason I left, but it is one.” She held up her index finger, before lazily letting her arm fall limply to the side. 

“What was the other reason then?” Shane asks, as he once more pulls her upright. 

“The other reason is that I never felt like I belonged anywhere I went. My friends, my family, they cared about me sure, but I just felt so alone most times ya know. Like I always had to sit in the corner when I was around them...” she trailed off a little.

Shane listened intently, this was a story she had never told him about herself. It sounded all too familiar, and as messed up as it was, he wanted to hear that someone had felt what he feels pretty much all the time. There was a bizarre sense of comfort knowing he isn't the only one who feels like this.

“But- But here I don’t feel so alone, I have friends who I can tell actually care about me…....” She smiles up at him with that funny sloppy smile only drunks can give. “Do you care about me though? I like to think you do when you do something like this, but other times you look so mad when I stop and say hi before you go into work, or when I meet you on that bridge and ask you how your day went” Her voice had taken a rather sudden, somber tone with a question so loaded Shane feels that he’s going to be shot no matter what he tells her. It made him feel so awful that she was going to ask a question like that after all this time, after he bought her drinks and was walking her home with her hanging off of him like this. Guess he still had more to learn about being a good friend. 

“Of course I care about you” He tells her “I wouldn’t be doing this for you if I didn’t....and even if I didn't, what does it matter, who cares what I think? I’m the biggest mess here, no one should be listening to me."

The farmer wimpers a little when he says this. “I care alot about what you think, cause….Cause I care alot about you.” 

He didn’t know how to reply to that, no one's ever been so forward to him like this before. Then again she was drunk, so who knows if she actually meant any of this. He assumes no, just so things don't feel awkward the next time they go around each other. 

“I've really got to get you into bed” He tells her with a soft voice. By now they were at least on her property, he could hear the roar of the ocean’s waves as they crashed onto the shore and against the rocky cliff sides.

“Can you make it to your room if I lead you to the porch?” Shane asks, he’d rather not go into her house with her like this. Not that he would try anything, it just didn’t feel right having his first impression of her home being dragging her to her bed since she was sloppy drunk. 

The farmer nods, and releases her hold on him. “I can actually make it from here thanks!” she mumbles, as she stumbles back onto her rump. 

Shane bites his lip hard to keep from laughing, but a light hearted chuckle still escapes him as he leans down and helps her back onto her feet. “Alright you’re too far gone, I’ll get you into the house but if you take a nap in front of the door that’s on you” 

The woman laughs and leans hard against him again “Deal hah!” 

With that, he got her up to the porch, he still didn't follow her in but he stuck around to make sure the door shut behind her at least. After that Shane finally made his way home, he didn’t dare take the shortcut through her property. It was too dark to see, the tide was in so it was very likely the little bridges were under water, and he didn’t want to trample any plants she might have growing. 

The next morning the farmer woke up with a rather sharp pounding in her head, she finds that she had made it to bed but just barely. Half her body was hanging off the bed, one shoe was off and laying in the middle of the hallway and unfortunately the foot still in the sandy, muddy boot was the one that made it on the bed, she sighs knowing good and well this meant washing the sheets. She tries to sit up and feels the whole room spin, her head instantly laid back on the pillow. This was certainly a hangover, which was weird because she’s never actually had one before. Then again, she had never really gotten that drunk before. The memories are a little bit of a blur, but she remembers enough to know she made a fool of herself infront of Shane. It was going to take some self-talk but she eventually managed to get herself out of bed. Once on her feet she got her missing boot back on, fetched an ibuprofen, ate some breakfast with a cup of coffee and started heading out the door. Hungover or not she had work to do still, not only that but she was hoping to catch Shane before he came out of work. She had to be sure he was okay too, she never liked how he would always be walking home alone in the dark all inebriated. 

As the farmer exits the house she almost runs head first into Shane, who was standing in the sand waiting for her. The woman jumped a little, but quickly composed herself.  
“Hey uh, what are you doing here?” She asked with a slight turn of her head. 

Shane’s cheeks got a little flush as he tried to explain why it was he was standing here at almost 6:30 in the morning. “Oh well, I er... I was wanting to see if you needed any help around the farm. I figured you might have been a little hungover after last night, and figured you’d appreciate the extra hands. I know how hard it can be to do work after a night like that.” 

The farmer stares at him for a moment and looks around the wide sandy field. “I mean, it’s not like there’s much to do….” She mumbles awkwardly.

“It’s more than I could ever manage, you got a barn, a coop, and it looks like you got some plants growing in that patch of forest between those cliffs over there.” 

Her face gets hot when he starts talking about what she has, even if she does have little more than a garden, a barn and a coop it’s not like there was much for it. “Yeah that barn has only one cow in it, and the coop only has two chickens…” she tells him. 

Shane raises a brow and gives her a bizarre look, he wasn’t being judgmental, it was still more than he could ever manage alone. “As I said, it’s better than what I could do. If I were given a place as big as this I’d be lucky to even get it cleaned up.” He was hoping that would have at least cheered her up a little, but the woman still seemed to be embarrassed about her supposed lack of agricultural skills. 

“Yeah..” She sighed hard “Uh if you want can you take care of the animals, look out for Snailbert she likes to try and lay down on you when you milk her.” 

Shane’s eyes got wide, getting crushed by a cow was not his preferred method of dying especially when the cow’s name was something as weird as “Snailbert”. The farmer laughs, seeing his expression change. 

“If she starts to lean just pat her side, she’ll straighten up” She tells him. “Oh and it is mandatory to give Rocky pets,” she points him to the sandy blonde cat who was sitting on the fence post around the barn. 

“I’ll be sure to give him a pat when I go over there” He tells her with a small grin. 

The farmer nods “You better, he’s my boy. Even if he’s not the brightest, always laying by the waves then wondering why he gets wet. He’ll come running over to me running his mouth like it’s my fault he was splashed.” She giggles thinking back to when that happened, the angry look in the cat’s eyes as he shook his little head. She felt bad for him, but that was a lesson he needed to learn, it wasn’t safe for him to lay that close anyways. 

“Well!” The farmer says, clasping her hands together, “Let's get to work!”

Shane nodded and walked alongside her until the time came for them to separate, he had this slight smile on his face the whole time as he worked. It felt good to help, it was also just nice seeing her smile and hearing her laugh as she told stories about her cat. Shane tried not to let himself get too deep in his thoughts, especially since Snailbert seemed to be trying to lay on him. He hurriedly pats her side, the cow huffs and stands straight again. The man breathed a heavy sigh of relief, he couldn’t see how the farmer’s nerves could handle that. A cow almost falling on her every other day, maybe she didn’t let herself get engulfed in her own thoughts like he did. 

Once he was finished with Snailbert, he moved on to the chickens. It was a much more enjoyable experience, the hens took right up to him they followed him around as he gave them plenty of food and snuggled up in his lap when he sat down for a little break. He really enjoyed the time he spent with them, and was rather sad to leave them. But with his work finished he decided to join the farmer at the garden.

“Well my work is finished” Shane called as he approached the farmer. 

The farmer looks up from her plants and smiles “Oh wow, you finished up before me!” 

“It wasn’t that different from what Marnie has me doing.” 

“Ah-ha right” her cheeks get all warm, it had completely slipped her mind she didn’t really give him anything new to do. “Well I was just about to finish up here, I’ll make us some lunch.” 

“You don’t have to do that” Shane tells her

“Well you didn’t have to have a few drinks with me yesterday, but you still did. Come on, I just want to be a good friend” She smiles and holds out her hand, Shane was rather unsure about taking it but he didn’t want to leave her hanging. He takes her hand, lets her lead the way back to her home. Holding her hand, it made his chest feel all warm and for a moment Shane could’ve sworn he had felt something more than friendship for her. But he quickly dismisses the notion, telling himself he’s probably just feeling a little bit over heated from the summer sun. 

Once at the house the farmer lets go of his hand and opens the door for him, he timidly enters first and is welcomed by a cool breeze. He wouldn't have thought there was air conditioning in an old house like this, but it would have been foolish to not have something to beat the heat. The farmer follows in after him, closing the door behind her. Shane took a look around the place, it was nice and roomy for a single person. Full living room and kitchen, off to the side was the bedroom and bathroom. Just from what he could observe from the living room it seemed to have an issue with blank walls, since most of the available spaces were taken up by banners from the festivals, paintings, or wall plants. Plants were another thing she seemed to be fond of, with large indoor plants taking up space in most of the corners of her rooms, there was an odd geo display, or statue here or there. For the most part though the house looked like a jungle, didn't this woman get enough of plants being a farmer? 

"Uh-oh" she huffs coming up and standing beside him "You're doing a lot of standing around and staring, you don't like it do you?" 

Shane takes his eyes off her decore long enough to meet her worried gaze. "No, honestly I think I would be surprised if it looked any different. It's very…..you." 

The woman would give him a small grin before walking over to the kitchen and washing her hands. "Well, make yourself at home. I'll grab you a drink here in just a moment." She calls over her shoulder. "I'm going to make some homemade pepper poppers for lunch by the way. I know how much you like 'em, and I think I've perfected the recipe." The farmer finishes up, and opens up the fridge to grab a soda for her guest. She sets it on the kitchen table for him to grab whenever. 

"Hey, that sounds good!" Shane grins "Can't wait to try em" he makes his way over to the kitchen table and sits down. He slides the drink close and opens the can of soda, taking small sips as he watches her get to work cooking. 

They talked a little bit as she worked, it was mostly her asking him questions about his job at Joja. He'd answer, and she'd tell him about her miserable job she had as an office worker for them. The mutual deep disdain for Joja was something they could both bond over, the farmer at least was able to get out of there while Shane was feeling rather stuck. 

"Why not just work with me?" The farmer would ask. 

Shane runs a hand through his hair and averts his gaze from her's "I wouldn't want to impose or anything…" 

"You wouldn't be imposing, I'm asking" the woman giggles "Besides it will be so much better than Joja, the work days are short and when we're finished we can just hang out like this." 

"I know, and it sounds nice but I'd just feel like a burden." 

The farmer would sigh, "You wouldn't be a burden though…" She wanted to say more, but the oven dinging cut her off. "Oh, looks like the poppers are ready." 

The mood shifted ever so slightly as she pulled the poppers out and lays them to cool on the counter, the farmer still wanted to try and talk him into working with her but she didn't want to push him away. She turned around to see Shane still looking off toward the floor, now she just felt bad for pushing at all. 

"Okay, now we just gotta wait for them to cool. Would you like another drink?" She asks. 

"Uh, yeah thanks…" Shane looks back for a moment "Do you have any...ah never mind." 

"Were you going to ask for beer?" 

" I…..maybe."  
"It's barely noon Shane, even if I did the answer's no."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'll take another Joja cola then." 

"Yeah that's what I thought" the farmer mumbles to herself as she opens up the fridge again to pull him out a cold soda and passes it to him. 

"Thanks" he grumbles quietly as he takes the can from her. 

With the lighter tone from before gone, an unbearable quiet came in to replace the sounds of them talking and joking. It made the wait for the poppers to chill seem far longer than it actually was, but still the farmer couldn't take it for long and spun around to grab plates from the cabinet. She dished them both out a fair amount of poppers, and had gotten a little excited to see Shane's reaction when he started taking small, cautious bites. 

"Wow, these are actually pretty good!" He gives her a smile that's bigger than any happy expression she's seen him make. 

Seeing him grin like that made her heart race, she would do anything to make him smile like that again. For a moment she found herself getting more than a little distracted, and had to pull herself back to reality. So the farmer grabs herself a can of soda from the fridge and sat down across from him so she could start eating as well. "I'm glad you like it." she tells him through mouthfuls. "Took me forever to actually get the recipe down." 

"Well your hard work certainly paid off, they’re possibly the best pepper poppers I’ve ever had!” 

The farmer had to hide her smile, she didn’t expect him to compliment her like that. “Thank you, it means alot to hear you say that!” she chirps.

The two ate in relative silence, only speaking a few times but mostly they were just enjoying their meal together. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the other’s company, even if nothing was being said. It was a much better feeling than what had followed after the awkward pause between the offer she had made and the poppers being ready. As enjoyable as it was, it was over rather quickly though as they had both finished their meals and were now just staring at empty plates. 

“Well” The farmer starts “That was nice” she giggles softly as she stood up and grabbed their plates. 

Shane nods in agreement “It was, I may start coming to you if I really get a craving for them.”  
The farmer’s eyes light up when he says this, she would adore spending more time with him. 

“Of...of course you can” She stammers “You’re always welcome here Shane!” 

"Well, I'd better get back home" Shane grunts as he gets up from the chair and stretches. The farmer quickly gets up and walks over to his side, Shane takes a small step to the side and gives her a small, friendly grin. The farmer took no offense to this, he was the type of person who enjoyed their personal space. 

"I'll see you later!" He tells her. 

"Yeah…..see you!" She watched as he opened the door and left. 

It always felt so bittersweet watching someone walk out that door, she didn't get many visitors so when someone did come over she often hoped they'd never want to leave.

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanna throw this out here, I haven't posted a /reader fanfic in a while. So pardon me if I'm a bit rusty. I hope you enjoyed it, I plan to put part 2 out soon. It's not like I have much else to do.


End file.
